Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Centre, universities, and the building and construction industry. The main
targets of the Energy Performance Directive are
'Legislative authorities shall ensure that, when buildings are constructed,
sold, or rented out, an energy performance certificate is made available to
the owner or by the owner to the prospective buyer or tenant, as the case
m ig ht b e.…'
'The energy performance certificate for buildings shall include refer-
ence values such as current legal standards and benchmarks in order
to make it possible for consumers to compare and assess the energy
performance of the building. The certificate shall be accompanied by
recommendations for cost-effective improvement of the energy perfor-
mance….' [Available at www.epbd.eu]
The following steps are required for the energy certification:
1. Develop methodologies for energy declaration of the buildings
2. Develop reference values (key numbers) and/or systems for bench-
marking
3. Provide a labelling system for selected buildings
The primary use of energy declarations is, among others, to
1. Create consciousness of energy efficiency in buildings and also
improve the knowledge of energy use in buildings
2. Use the information to determine if the building works as well as
possible with regard to its technical design
3. Use the information for benchmarking
4. Use the information for suggesting measures and recommendations
for reducing energy use
5. Provide the information necessary to make calculations of the
environmental impact due to the energy use (e.g. carbon dioxide
emissions)
6. Describe selected energy properties of the building
7. Give the basis for a common energy performance certification of a
building
It is believed that depending on the purpose of the energy declaration,
different procedures can be of interest. Different actors need different infor-
mation. In order to give relevant advice to the property owner about which
measures are cost-effective, a very careful examination and calculation of
the building's energy balance is necessary. A careful analysis is also neces-
sary to give relevant information to the users about how they can decrease
their energy use without decreasing, to an unacceptable level, the indoor
